Summit High School parents frustrated with communication during lockdown
After a lockdown situation at Summit High School on Monday morning, parents are still frustrated with the amount of communication they were given in terms of the safety of their children locked inside. Summit County Sheriff Jamie FitzSimons told CBS News Colorado on Tuesday that they received a threat to the school around 9:20 a.m., saying there was someone with a gun and a bomb at the school.
That threat was deemed uncredible, and the sheriff's office is still working to figure out the caller's identity. But the false alarm did not stop a full-fledged response to the school and a full lockdown of staff and students inside. A few parents waited at the edge of the parking lot, desperate for new information, and to get their children out of the building, fearing the worst.
"I was told that a kid had a bad grade, so he was at the school with a gun, and he planted a pipe bomb," Emly Northrup said, waiting for her son to be released from lockdown.
"This is the parenting nightmare."
She was not alone. Plenty of cars were already on site when the lockdown was released and parents were allowed to collect their children from the school. Many parents that CBS News Colorado Mountain Newsroom Reporter Spencer Wilson spoke with ranged from disappointed to downright angry with the communication they received from the school.
"There are two emails, and they are vague," Northrup said.
Steve Barele, another parent looking to pull his daughter out of the school had similar issues.
"I've seen vehicles go in, they are letting a food truck go in, but not letting our kids come out," Barele said, exasperated. "First we heard there's an active shooter, then we hear a pipe bomb, and now we don't have any idea what is going on here."
The Summit School District released two statements on social media throughout the day, the first explaining the lockdown and reassuring parents their children were safe.
The second said the lockdown was over. A PDF outlines their policy for safety communication here, referencing in the event of a serious lockdown situation, having parents flood the parking lot or school, in general, might not be the best option for everyone involved.
